SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge is contemplating putting a lawsuit over Utah's 18-week abortion ban on hold again.
The lawsuit was recently restarted after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an abortion case out of Louisiana. But now that the nation's top court said it would consider a lawsuit out of Mississippi prohibiting abortions after 15-weeks, Utah's litigation may stall again.
"In this case, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah challenges the constitutionality of H.B. 136 on the ground that any ban on a pre-viability abortion is prohibited. The question in Jackson Women’s Health appears to implicate the issues before this court," U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups wrote, referencing the Mississippi case.
He asked both Planned Parenthood and the Utah Attorney General's Office to weigh in by next month before he made a decision.
In 2019, the Utah State Legislature passed a bill banning elective abortions after 18 weeks. The state was sued over it. The lawsuit was then put on hold pending U.S. Supreme Court decisions in other cases.
